Conducting An Individualized, Virtually Moderated, Virtual Real Time Methodical Debate

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a computer implemented method and system for conducting an individualized, virtually moderated, and virtual real time debate. Debating topics and debating rules are defined for the debate. A group of panelists is selected for the debate based on the debating topics. An electronic debating platform is provided to the panelists for receiving one or more key points, responses, and counter-responses contributed by each of the panelists in non real time. The key points, the responses, and the counter-responses are governed by the debating rules. The prerecorded key points, responses, counter-responses, and one or more information components relevant to each of the key points are stringed together in sequence. The debate is presented to a viewer on a multimedia presentation layer. The presentation of the debate is customized by enabling the viewer to selectively navigate through the presentation using the sequenced key points, responses, counter-responses, and information components.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent applicationNo. 61/128,414, titled “Effective Debate Machine, Internet MultimediaEnabled, with Non-real Time Debate Creation, and Virtual Real Time,Virtual Moderator Viewing”, filed on May 21, 2008 in the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office.

BACKGROUND

The computer implemented method and system disclosed herein, in general,relates to conducting debates. More particularly, the computerimplemented method and system disclosed herein relates to conductingindividualized, virtually moderated, and virtual real time methodicaldebates.

A component of effectiveness in debating is the availability of thedebate to a viewing audience in a compelling manner. An in-depthcoverage of a debate on a complex topic lasting over five hours, andconceivably fifty or more hours, is likely to alienate audiences who arenot prepared to spend more than 30 minutes to two hours of attentiveviewing. In a traditional debate, the panelists may not be able tomethodically challenge each other without interruptions. A methodicalreal time debate would burden the viewing audience by making theaudience wait extended periods between the delivery of an objectionablestatement in the midst of a longer discourse, the expression of anobjection, the counter-response, and so on for sufficient levels offollow-up discussion. Such a format is difficult for an audience tofollow when multiple objectionable statements are being addressed at thesame time, and the debate significantly exceeds the 30 minutes to 2hours duration a typical audience is willing to devote to attendance.When one considers the complexity of the issues facing contemporarysociety, it is apparent that the time allocated to traditional debatesis highly inadequate. Frequently, the experts are allowed a mere 15minutes sum total each, or even less, to make all of their primarypoints, to respond to challenges from co-panelists, and to challengestatements made by their co-panelists. The practical necessity of suchreal time debates to be time-limited thus results in a product that canmore accurately be described as thought-provoking entertainment than asa tool to methodically scrutinize the different representations of thefacts presented by the expert panel.

Furthermore, traditional real time broadcasts of a debate are deficientsince the possibility of making source documents available whenpanelists disagree on the wording of the source documents is low,because the source documents that the panelists refer to is notnecessarily known in advance. Also, the traditional debates do not in atimely fashion incorporate charts, graphs, animations, and other visualsto explicate a point.

Traditional debates do not have an effective method for panelists tochallenge each other. In some traditional formats, panelists are allowedto interrupt each other. Hence, every panelist may not have anopportunity to finish a point uninterrupted. Furthermore, such a formatis usually disordered and does not allow the sequence of a key pointbeing made, followed by a response, then a counter-response to thechallenger by the initial person who made the key point, then afollow-up response by the challenger, and so-on, which is desired tomethodically complete the discussion.

Another traditional format provides a setting where a first speakertakes a turn, and then a co-panelist responds. Sometimes the originalspeaker is given a chance to respond again, though typically thechallenge ends there, and thus there is little or no opportunity for theback-and-forth succession that is necessary for a methodical discussion.This format is difficult for the audience to follow because the responseis expressed minutes after the initial offending comment is made. Acounter-response to the challenge, if expressed, is further separated intime with respect to any specific challenge.

For the reasons described above, the time duration for traditionaldebates necessarily limits the debate to only include a few panelistsmaking only a few key points without the methodical discussion toreconcile the differences. Also, a real time environment makes itdifficult for many panelists to contribute in an organized manner.Hence, the number of panelists rarely exceeds six. Additionally,retaining a number of panelists at the same time, if not also at thesame place, for an extended period of time is often impractical. Thismakes it less likely that the most qualified panelists are assembledtogether, and thus the debate is more susceptible to a position beingrepresented by a weak panelist. An additional source of bias is that thechoice of panelists is often made by a single individual, typically theproducer of the debate.

Also, the traditional format of debating does not address the need forextending the number of panelists to include specialist expert opinions.Debate constraints as described typically results in the necessity ofhaving to rely on generalist panelists for complex issues, to theexclusion of sub-topic experts. A panelist considered as a topicgeneralist on a complex issue may wish to yield a portion of time to asub-topic expert in order to illuminate an aspect best represented bysuch particular expertise.

Hence, there is a need for a more effective manner of conductingdebates. There is a need for conducting an individualized,virtually-moderated, and virtual real time debate by creating the debatein a non-real time manner, and presenting the debate in an interactivemanner, customized to the preferences of the viewer, and with theappearance in some aspects of a real time debate, but enhanced over thepossibilities of a real time format.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described in the detailed descriptionof the invention. This summary is not intended to identify key oressential inventive concepts of the claimed subject matter, nor is itintended for determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The computer implemented method and system disclosed herein addressesthe above stated need for conducting an individualized,virtually-moderated, and virtual real time debate by creating the debatein a non-real time manner, and presenting the debate in an interactivemanner, customized to the preferences of a viewer, and with theappearance in some aspects of a real time debate, but enhanced over thepossibilities of a real time format.

The computer implemented method and system disclosed herein alsoaddresses the need for conducting a debate that meets the requirementsof methodical discussion, while at the same time providing the viewer anenjoyable and comprehensible experience. The computer implemented methodand system disclosed herein addresses the above stated need by compilingthe debates over days or weeks, during which the panelists remotelycontribute at convenient times. This approach enables contributions ofkey points, responses, and counter-responses without interruptions, timefor a back-and-forth methodical challenge, time to introduce ancillarymaterials such as charts, graphs, animations, text, links to sourcedocuments, etc. This approach gives experts the time required toconsider their responses, consult books, other source documents, andcolleagues. Such an approach is an improvement over traditional formatswhere the panelists are obligated to deliver an instantaneous answerunder the intensity of the spotlight, when emotions are high. Thisapproach enables experts to yield a portion of their time to specialistsmore qualified to cover specific aspects of the debate.

After the experts conclude the debate, the contributions, in the form ofvideo segments are time shifted to enable a potential viewer to watchinterruptions as though the interruptions had occurred right at anoffending statement, immediately followed by further back-and-forthdiscussion in an exciting manner, which is impractical in a real timedebate. The viewer is transformed from a passive viewer in traditionaldebates to an active virtual moderator since the viewer chooses the keypoints for viewing, and controls whether panelists are virtuallyinterrupted or not, and also whether to watch the responses, thecounter-responses and the ensuing follow-up or not. The computerimplemented method and system disclosed herein can be generally used forall forms of debate such as public debates, online debates, televiseddebates, etc., and other forms of interactive and representationaldiscussions.

Debating topics and debating rules are defined for the debate. Thepanelists generally have the liberty to make uninterrupted key pointswithin and outside the scope of the debating topics. A group ofpanelists is selected for the debate based on several criteria. Sincethis format can accommodate more experts or panelists than traditionalformats, there is more flexibility in objectively selecting thepanelists. In an embodiment, one-third of the panelists are selected bya board of advisors, one-third of the panelists are selected by publicvoting through an Internet-based electronic debating platform, andone-third of the panelists are voted through the electronic debatingplatform by experts in the topics covered by the debate. The electronicdebating platform is provided to the panelists for publishing their owncontributions, and for viewing the key points, the responses, and thecounter-responses contributed by each of the co-panelists at differenttimes during debate creation and development. The contribution of thekey points, the responses, and the counter-responses are governed by thedebating rules. The debating rules define a permitted number of keypoints, responses, and counter-responses for each of the panelists, apermitted duration for each of the key points, the responses, and thecounter-responses, a total time each of the panelists is allotted forcontributing the key points, and a total time allotted for contributingthe responses and the counter-responses.

The video segments of the prerecorded key points, the responses, and thecounter-responses, and one or more information components relevant toeach key point are combined into multimedia files, to enable virtualmoderation by appropriately time shifting the video segmentscorresponding to a back-and-forth discussion around a challengedstatement contained within the key point. The information componentscomprise, for example, digital source documents, hyperlinks, charts,graphs, graphics, animations, and other visual components. Time shiftingthe video segments imparts a logical flow sequence, enabling flexibilityand interactivity in presentation of the debate to a viewer.

In the computer implemented method and system disclosed herein, thedebate is virtually moderated by the viewer in an interactive manner.The debate is presented to a viewer on a multimedia presentation layer,wherein the presentation is customized by enabling the viewer toselectively choose the key points of viewer-chosen participating expertsfor viewing, choose whether to branch the presentation from watching thevideo clip of a key point to watching the video clip of an interruptionimmediately after the moment when the statement in dispute was made,choose to watch the remainder of the back-and-forth of the follow-upensuing from the interruption, return at any time to where the key pointvideo clip was interrupted, or to return at any time to watch adifferent key point in the debate.

The computer implemented system disclosed herein comprises a database,the electronic debating platform, the production platform, and themultimedia presentation layer. The database stores and catalogs thedebating topics, debating rules, and information on the panelists. Theelectronic debating platform defines the debating topics and debatingrules for the debate. The electronic debating platform receives the keypoints, responses, and counter-responses contributed by each of thepanelists in non-real time. The electronic debating platform providesinformation on the debating topics used by the group of panelists inpreparation for contributing the key points. The production platformstrings the key points, the responses, and the counter-responses, andthe information components relevant to each of the key points togetherin sequence. The multimedia presentation layer presents the debate tothe viewer in an interactive manner.

The key points, the responses, and the counter-responses contributed bythe panelists are received in digitally encoded audiovisual formats andtext descriptions. Recording equipment such a web camera, a camcorder, acamera, an operator, and a studio are employed to capture the opinionsof panelists in a digital format, or in a format that is compatible fordigital encoding. The panelists may use suitable computers withbroadband or high data rate network connections. A network, such as theInternet is used as the medium for uploading digital source material forpresentation of the debate to the viewer.

In an embodiment, the multimedia presentation layer is implemented usinga scripted or markup language used for describing multimediapresentations and platforms. The multimedia presentation layer uses, forexample, a synchronized multimedia integration language (SMIL) to defineone or more presentation structures such as timing, layout, visualtransitions, and media embedding for the presentation of the debate. Thepresentation structures add interactivity to the presentation of theprerecorded key points, the responses, and the counter-responses of thepanelists, and the information components. The debates are watched bythe viewer over the Internet as streaming video or progressive downloadusing multimedia devices capable of connecting to the Internet. Thedebates are also viewed over interactive television networks usingintegrated receivers/decoders or set top boxes. In another embodiment,the debates are also viewed on a television connected to interactivelydesigned digital video discs (DVDs). The Internet in conjunction with aweb browser supports other presentation protocols such as hyper texttransfer protocol (HTML) pages containing text, hyperlinks, and visualsthat also contribute to the interactivity of the viewer with thepresentation of the debate. The televised debates using interactivetelevision use graphical user interface (GUI) widgets to enhanceinteractivity of the viewer with the presentation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofthe invention, is better understood when read in conjunction with theappended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention,exemplary constructions of the invention are shown in the drawings.However, the invention is not limited to the specific methods andinstrumentalities disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a computer implemented method for conducting anindividualized, virtually moderated, and virtual real time debate.

FIG. 2 illustrates a computer implemented system for conducting anindividualized, virtually moderated, and virtual real time debate.

FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates a computer system architecture used forimplementing the electronic debating platform, the production platform,the platform server, and the viewer devices.

FIGS. 4A-4B exemplarily illustrate a flow diagram for creation anddevelopment of a debate by a group of panelists.

FIG. 5A is a code listing illustrating an example SMIL implementation ofExpertA.smil.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example HTML implementation of a new HTML page,declared as ExpertAPoint1FollowUp.htm.

FIGS. 5C-5D illustrate example SMIL implementations ofExpertAPoint1aResponses.smil and ExpertAPoint1a.smil respectively.

FIG. 5E illustrates an example HTML implementation ofExpertAPoint1Resume.htm.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a computer implemented method for conducting anindividualized, virtually moderated, and virtual real time debate. Thevirtual real time debate, virtually moderated by the individual vieweris conducted by creating the debate in a non-real time manner, andpresenting the debate in an interactive manner, customized to thepreferences of the viewer, and with the appearance, in some respects, ofa real time debate, albeit enhanced. The computer implemented method canbe generally used for all forms of debate such as public debates, onlinedebates, televised debates, etc., and other forms of interactive andrepresentational discussions.

In the computer implemented method and system disclosed herein, thedebate is virtually moderated by the viewer in an interactive manner.Debating topics, debating rules for the debate, and possibly specificsub-topics within the purview of the debate on a specific topic aredefined 101. A group of panelists is selected 102 for the debate basedon their expertise on the debate topic, or on one or more of thesub-topics. The group of panelists comprises, for example, experts andauthorities on the topic who represent different points of view on thetopic. An electronic debating platform 201, as illustrated in FIG. 2, isprovided 103 to the panelists for receiving one or more key points,responses, and counter-responses contributed by each of the panelists innon real time. The key points, the responses, and the counter-responsesare governed by the debating topics and debating rules. The responsesfor each key point comprise, for example, a counter-point or achallenge, a favorable point, a referral to an information component,etc. Although the detailed description refers to the responses to thekey points, and the counter-responses to the responses, the scope of thecomputer implemented method and system disclosed herein is not limitedto only the responses and counter-responses but may be extended toinclude ensuing responses, counter-responses, and any follow-updiscussion therewith, until the discussion is, for example, objectivelyresolved, or discontinued by the panelists or the debating rules limitany further discussion. In an embodiment, the panelist making theoriginal key point, or the panelist objecting to a specific statement,may withdraw at a certain point in the back-and-forth discussion andother panelists may take over, according to the debating rules and rolesof defending, for challenging the statement under consideration.

The prerecorded key points, the responses, and the counter-responses,and one or more information components relevant to each of the keypoints or debating topics are stringed 104 together in sequence. Theinformation components are used for examining factual accuracies,logical consistencies, and clarity of elucidation of the key points, theresponses, and the counter-responses. The debate is presented 105 to theviewer on a multimedia presentation layer 202 c, wherein thepresentation of the debate is customized by enabling the viewer toselectively navigate through the presentation using the sequenced keypoints, responses, counter-responses, and information components. Thestrings are possible sequences of video clips, together with associatedmultimedia, which play in response to viewer selections. For instance,one string sequence comprises a video clip of a key point from thebeginning up to where the first objection occurred, followed by a videoclip of the response, followed by a video clip of the counter-response,and so on until the end of the back-and-forth video clips related to theparticular response, further followed by the continuation of the videoclip of the key point until the next navigation point at a subsequentresponse, and so on. The viewer at all times can interactively decide toreturn to the video clip of the key point where the key point wasinterrupted, or decide instead to watch a different key point. In anembodiment, the viewer can select an option beforehand to automaticallyplay the interruptions, or can choose to play the key pointuninterrupted and view the interruptions later.

The key points, the responses, and the counter-responses contributed bythe panelists are received in digitally encoded audiovisual formats ortext descriptions. Recording equipment such as a web cam, a camcorder, acamera, an operator, and a studio are employed to capture the opinionsof panelists in different settings in a digital format, or in a formatthat is compatible for digital encoding. The panelists may use suitablecomputers with broadband or high data rate network connections. Anetwork 205, such as the Internet is used as the transmission medium bythe panelists for uploading digital source material via the electronicdebating platform 201 for presentation of the debate to the viewer.

The multimedia presentation layer 202 c is implemented using a scriptedor markup language used for describing multimedia presentations andplatforms. The multimedia presentation layer 202 c uses, for example, asynchronized multimedia integration language (SMIL) to define one ormore presentation structures comprising, for example, timing, layout,visual transitions, and media embedding for the presentation of thedebate. The presentation structures add interactivity to thepresentation of prerecorded key points, the responses, and thecounter-responses of the panelists, and the information components. Thedebates are watched by the viewer over the Internet as streaming videoor progressive download using multimedia devices capable of connectingto the Internet. The debates are also viewed over interactive televisionnetworks using integrated receivers/decoders or set top boxes. Inanother embodiment, the debates are also viewed on television connectedto interactively designed digital video discs (DVDs). The Internet inconjunction with a web browser supports other presentation protocolssuch as hyper text transfer protocol (HTML) pages containing text,hyperlinks, and visuals that also contribute to the interactivity of theviewer with the presentation of the debate. The televised debates usinginteractive television use graphical user interface (GUI) widgets toenhance interactivity of the viewer with the presentation.

The information components comprise, for example, digital sourcedocuments, files, charts, graphs, graphics, animations, embeddedhyperlinks, and other visuals. In an embodiment, the digital sourcedocument is presented to the viewer at a relevant time in thepresentation, for example, when the panelists disagree on the wording ofthe source documents, the disagreement in fact having been captured onvideo during the initial phase of non-real time debate development whenthe panelists were contributing content. The debate is created innon-real time, thereby allowing time for arranging source documents tobe made available in the presentation for settling any disputes aboutthe wording of the source documents. For example, the viewer selectivelynavigates or branches through the presentation of the debate towards aprerecorded topic or panelists of interest. While pursuing a branch forviewing, the viewer watches the prerecorded video of one of thepanelists referring to the wording of a source document forclarification or persuasive reasons. The co-panelist taking a differentposition may have challenged the exact phrasing in the source documentduring debate development, and the viewer selects to watch theprerecorded video of the co-panelist at this point in the presentation.A pop-up window appears at this point in the presentation to attract theattention of the viewer towards the wording of the source document. Theviewer may select to refer to the wording of the source document byclicking an embedded link in the pop-up window. Therefore, thecontributions of the panelists also comprise accompanying digital sourcedocuments, charts, graphs, graphics, animations, and other visuals tosupport their opinions.

The debating rules define a framework for non-real time panelistinteraction and establish a formal setting for the panelists to makepropositions or key points, oppositions or counterpoints, affirmativepropositions, etc. For example, the debating rules define parameterssuch as a number of key points, a number of responses, and a number ofcounter-responses that each panelist is permitted to contribute, theduration for expressing each key point, each response, or eachcounter-response, a total time allotted for each panelist to make allkey points, a total time each of the panelists is allotted forcontributing the key points, a total time allotted for contributing saidresponses and said counter-responses, and a protocol for determining thepriority of competing panelists for challenging a specific objectionablestatement. The electronic debating platform 201 is also used to enforcethe debating rules during the creation and development of the debate.

The electronic debating platform 201 provides information on thedebating topics used by the group of panelists in preparation forcontributing the key points, available reference materials on the worldwide web (WWW), information about the panelists, links to books authoredby the panelists etc.

FIG. 2 illustrates a computer implemented system for conducting anindividualized, virtually moderated, and virtual real time debate. Thecomputer implemented system comprises a database 203, an electronicdebating platform 201, and a production platform 204 connected to aplatform server 202. The platform server 202 comprises a debatingplatform server 202 a, a production platform server 202 b, and amultimedia presentation layer 202 c. The database 203 stores andcatalogs the debating topics, debating rules, and information onpanelists. The electronic debating platform 201 defines the debatingtopics and debating rules for the debate at hand. The electronicdebating platform 201, in conjunction with a debating platform server202 a of the platform server 202, receives the key points, theresponses, and the counter-responses contributed by each of thepanelists in non-real time, wherein the key points, the responses, andthe counter-responses are governed by the debating rules. The productionplatform 204 strings together the key points, the responses, and thecounter-responses, and one or more information components relevant toeach of the key points or debating topics in sequence. The multimediapresentation layer 202 c presents the debate to the viewer, wherein thepresentation is customized by enabling the viewer to selectivelynavigate through the presentation using, and towards, the sequenced keypoints, the responses, the counter-responses, and the informationcomponents. The multimedia presentation layer 202 c is implemented usingSMIL for presentation structuring, or using other standardized scriptingor markup languages used for describing multimedia presentations andplatforms, for example, Action Script 3.0 and Flash of Adobe Inc. Themultimedia presentation is transmitted over the network 205 to viewerdevices 206 a, 206 b, and 206 c for presentation. The network 205 usedfor transmission is, for example, an interactive television network orthe Internet. The viewer devices 206 a, 206 b, and 206 c comprisemultimedia devices capable of connecting to the Internet, televisionswith integrated receivers/decoders or set top boxes, televisionsconnected to interactively designed DVDs, etc.

The production platform 204, in conjunction with the production platformserver 202 b of the platform server 202 provides access to variousmultimedia production resources such as sequencing of multimedia contentor scheduling, compression of multimedia content using specializedencoding schemes for storage and streaming, video editing applicationsfor linear editing and non-linear editing, programming platform forcreating HTML pages, etc. A production team responsible for producingthe debate accesses the multimedia production resources via the network205 or via a private network. The production team also collectsinformation about the panelists for publication, brings together thepanelists for the debate, provides internet websites where the vieweraccesses the presentation of the debate, arranges programming to displaythe multimedia content created by the panelists, arranges programming ofsoftware to control the presentation flow of the debate, arrangesdisplay of information components or source materials, and is generallyresponsible for producing the debate.

FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates a computer system architecture used forimplementing the electronic debating platform 201, the productionplatform 204, the platform server 202, and the viewer devices 206 a, 206b, and 206 c. The computer system 300 comprises a processor 301, amemory unit 302 for storing programs and data, an input/output (I/O)controller 303, and a display unit 306 communicating via a data bus 305.The memory unit 302 comprises a random access memory (RAM) and a readonly memory (ROM). The computer system 300 comprises one or more inputdevices 307, for example, a keyboard 311 such as an alphanumerickeyboard, a mouse 313, a joystick 312, a touch-sensitive screen, etc.The computer system 300 communicates with other computer systems throughan interface 304, comprising, for example, a Bluetooth interface, aninfrared interface (IR interface), a WiFi interface, a universal serialbus interface (USB), a local area network or wide area network (LAN orWAN) interface, etc.

The computer system 300 further comprises a fixed media drive 308 and aremovable media drive 309 for receiving removable media. The computersystem 300 further comprises output devices, for example, a printer 310for receiving and reading digital data on a compact disk, a digitalvideo disk or other medium. Computer applications or programs are usedfor operating the computer system 300. The programs are loaded onto thefixed media drive 308 and into the memory unit 302 of the computersystem 300 via the removable media drive 309. Applications are executedby double clicking a related icon or menu displayed on the display unit306 using the mouse 313 or through other input devices 307. Further thecomputer system 300 employs an operating system for performing multipletasks. The operating system manages execution of the softwareapplications provided on the computer system 300. The operating systemfurther manages security of the computer system 300, peripheral devicesconnected to the computer system 300, and network connections. Theoperating system employed on the computer system 300 recognizes keyboardinputs and pointing device inputs of a user, output display, files anddirectories stored locally on a hard drive. Different programs, forexample, web browser, e-mail application, etc. initiated by the user areexecuted by the operating system with the help of the processor 301, forexample, a central processing unit (CPU). The operating system monitorsthe use of the processor 301.

The software applications such as video editing applications areinstalled in the computer system 300 and the instructions are stored inthe memory unit 302. The multimedia content is transferred from thedatabase 203 to the computer system 300 through the interface 304 andvia the network 205. Instructions for executing the video editingapplication are retrieved by the CPU from various modules in the videoediting application. The locations of the instructions in the modulesare determined by a program counter (PC). The program counter stores anumber that identifies the current position in the program of the videoediting application. The instructions fetched by the CPU from theprogram memory after being processed are decoded. The instructions areplaced in an instruction register (IR) in the CPU. After processing anddecoding, the CPU executes the instructions. The instructions comprise,for example, rendering the sequencing the multimedia content,compression of the multimedia content using specialized encodingschemes, etc.

At the time of execution, the instructions stored in the instructionregister are examined to determine the operations to be performed. Thespecified operation is then performed by the CPU. The operations includearithmetic and logic operations. The operating system performs multipleroutines for performing a number of tasks required to assign inputdevices 307, out put devices, and memory for execution of the videoediting application. The tasks performed by the operating systemcomprise assigning memory to the video editing application and data,moving data between memory and disk units and handling input/ outputoperations. The operating system performs the tasks on request by theoperations and after performing the tasks, the operating systemtransfers the execution control back to the CPU. The CPU continues theexecution to obtain one or more outputs. The outputs of the execution ofthe video editing application are displayed to the user on the displayunit 306.

In an embodiment, the panelists are permitted to contribute remotely viavideo capturing devices, such as, a web camera or a video camera. Thecaptured video, including any text descriptions, are uploaded to theelectronic debating platform 201 through a web front-end over a periodof days or weeks. Therefore, the panelists have the flexibility to makecontributions at convenient times. The video is encoded locally beforeuploading, or can be encoded for streaming video at the productionplatform 204 managed by the production team. At the conclusion of thedebate period, the debate content accumulated over the debate period aregrouped based on key points or other grouping logic, and can beindividually viewed. For example, at the completion of the production ofthe debate, the viewer may click a link, presented by the multimediapresentation layer 202 c, to launch the video presentation of aparticular key point contributed by a particular panelist. Thisselection-based viewing of the debate makes the debate more palatable tothe viewer, as the viewer is not required to watch a lengthy lineardebate. The viewer selects presentation content and the amount of thepresentation content for viewing, prioritized by the interests of theviewer.

During the creation of the debate, the panelists submit video contentcontaining their key points. Additionally, the panelists have theopportunity to view the video submissions of their fellow panelists.FIGS. 4A-4B exemplarily illustrate a flow diagram for creation anddevelopment of a debate by a group of panelists. A first panelistuploads 401 a video of a key point, along with a text summary andoptional ancillary material using the web front-end of the electronicdebating platform 201. The video of the first panelist is posted 402 ona website using the multimedia presentation layer 202 c for presentationof an open debate. Other panelists are notified 402 of the video postingof the first panelist. When a second panelist desires to respond to akey point made by the first panelist with a challenge, the secondpanelist merely indicates the position on the timeline of the videowhere the contestable point is made, together with a video submission403 of the second panelist's challenge to the contestable point. Whenmore than one co-panelist wishes to challenge the same point made by thefirst panelist, the priority for the challenges are determined 404according to the protocol defined in the debating rules.

The video representing the challenge of the second panelist is posted405 on the website, including a text description of the challenge andany accompanying links, files, graphs, charts, animations, etc. usingthe multimedia presentation layer 202 c. In turn, the first panelist,who initially made the contestable statement, views the secondpanelist's challenge video, and uploads 406 another video responding tothe second panelist's challenge. Similarly, the second panelist has theopportunity to further respond back 407 and 409 with another video, andso on 410 and 411, until either the first panelist or the secondpanelist elects not to follow-up any further, or unless the permittednumber of back-and forth responses defined by the debating rules hasbeen exceeded. Additionally, since several co-panelists may desire tochallenge a point or join or continue the discussion 408, debating rulesare enforced to give the co-panelists turns to choose one or more keypoints that the co-panelists wish to challenge. When the debate isclosed, the video segments of every panelist, the ancillary HTML pages,charts, graphs, links, etc. are combined 412 into an interactive,virtual-moderated, multimedia debate and posted for presentation usingthe production platform 204 and the multimedia presentation layer 202 c.

The panelists are obligated to use their permitted time wisely, sincethe creation and development of the debate is unmoderated. The panelistsmay yield some amount of the permitted time to other experts of theirchoosing. Expert opinions are valuable to improve the quality of thedebate, and bring in specialized expertise to cover specific topics in afield.

After the production of the debate, the debate is made available on thewebsite for viewing in an interactive manner. The viewer essentiallybecomes the virtual moderator since the viewer can virtually allow aninterruption to be viewed at the point where a challenger found astatement objectionable. For example, the viewer begins to watch thevideo of the primary point made by a first panelist by clicking anembedded link to start the presentation of the debate. This launches avideo playback window, together with a child window, cascading with thevideo playback window. The child window contains related multimedia suchas animations, charts, graphs, links, etc. The information presented inthe child window dynamically changes to synchronize with the point orobjection being narrated or raised by the panelist in played back video.When an objectionable statement is reached, a link dynamically appears,for example, within the child window that automatically pauses the videoplayback of the first panelist rendering the key point, and begins thevideo playback of the challenge by a second panelist. Alternatively, theviewer may choose to continue watching the key point uninterrupted, withthe option to return later to watch the challenge. The viewer may decideat any point during the challenge and the consequent follow-up to thechallenge that the key point was invalidated by the second panelist, andchoose not watch the remaining succession of videos.

After the viewer concludes the remaining succession of videos ensuingfrom the challenge, the video playback of the key point resumes fromwhere the playback had been paused to conclusion, if the viewer does notintervene by selecting links to skip to another key point. Therefore, avirtual “interruption” by the second panelist is watched immediatelyafter the objectionable statement is made, without truly interruptingthe first panelist making the key point.

The prerecorded and viewer-moderated format of the debate allows morecontent without alienating the viewer, as the viewer selectively watchesthe presentation of the debate. Hence, this format of the debate permitsgreater depth of coverage, a methodical scrutiny of the contestedpositions, a larger number of panelists to contribute in the debate,etc. Furthermore, the opportunity for a larger number of contributingpanelists provides opportunities for combining several objective waysfor selecting the panelists. For example, selections can be determinedby an advisory panel to the debate production team, other selections bythe experts in the field, and still others by voting or consensus of thegeneral population of viewers conducted via the Internet. This formatadvantageously allows effective debates to be continuously availableover the Internet for indefinitely long periods. In an embodiment, adebate already posted on a website for presentation is updated ormodified at a future time to incorporate new information.

In an embodiment, each panelist is profiled on an HTML page dedicated tothe panelist and the contributions of the panelist. The HTML page alsoincludes ancillary material such as recommended reading materials,biography of the panelists, a picture of the panelist, links to purchasebooks published by the panelist, etc. The HTML page further comprises alist of embedded links with accompanying brief text descriptions of thekey points the panelist wishes to express. When the viewer clicks thelink to one of the key points, the multimedia presentation layer 202 claunches the video and the accompanying HTML pages of the panelist,expressing the point described in the brief text descriptionaccompanying the link. In another embodiment, when the viewer iswatching a video of a key point in the playback window, miniature videosof the co-panelists is played back in a separate window, showing thereactions of those co-panelists while the co-panelists were watching thevideo of the key point. In another embodiment, videos of random viewersare played back in small-size windows showing the reactions while theviewers were watching the same video. In another embodiment, viewers canwatch the reactions of selected friends who had been or aresynchronously watching the same video or multimedia presentation.

In an embodiment, the presentation is orchestrated through the markuplanguage known as synchronized multimedia integration language 2.0 (SMIL2.0). SMIL provides the presentation flexibility that allows the user toessentially assume the role of a virtual moderator and navigate throughthe presentation. Navigation through the presentation surrounding a keypoint comprises selecting different branch points in the presentation.For example, a branch point follows the playback of a key point,response, counter-response sequence, including any follow-up discussion,and reverts to the remainder of the playback of the key point from wherean interruption occurred. In another example, the navigation continuesplayback of the key point without playing the response at any branchpoint. In another example, the navigation continues playback of the keypoint till the conclusion of the key point and later returns to thebranch point to begin playback of the responses. In another example, thebranch point follows the playback of the key point, response,counter-response sequence, including any follow-up discussion for anarbitrary period of time, and reverts to the playback of the remainderof the key point from where the interruption occurred. For example,during an ongoing presentation, new HTML pages and pop-up windows appearthat enables the viewer to choose to continue watching a first video ofa key point being expressed, or allow the first video to be paused tobranch to a second video of a co-panelist challenging the key point, andpursue the branch along the succession of follow-up videos to theconclusion. A smooth visual transition from the first video to thesecond video gives the appearance of a real time interruption by theco-panelist to challenge the key point. If the viewer interrupts theplayback of a video to watch another video, the viewer can resume theplayback of the original video at any time. In another example, theviewer continues the playback of the video of the key point, andmanually chooses to watch a challenge where it occurs in the timesequence. In another example, the viewer may return to the challengesafter the playback of the key point is completed to watch thosechallenges.

In an exemplary scenario, the viewer clicks a link to begin playback ofa key point contributed by a first panelist, designated as expert A, ina video playback window. The link opens a file referred to as a .ramfile. A ram file is a terminology used to refer a supported media formatby RealPlayer of RealNetworks Inc. Other multimedia implementations arebased on QuickTime player of Apple Inc., Adobe Flash player and ActionScript 3.0 of Adobe Inc., or Windows Media Player of Microsoft® Inc. The.ram file enables smooth communication between the Real Networks' mediabrowser and the server that provides the multimedia content. The ramfile also causes a declared SMIL file to open. An example ram file isillustrated as follows:

-   # ExpertAPoint1.ram file://ExpertAPoint1.smil?screensize=double.    This ram file causes an SMIL file declared as ExpertA.smil to open.    FIG. 5A is a code listing illustrating an example SMIL    implementation of ExpertA.smil. ExpertA.smil initiates the playback    of the video of the key point of Expert A, named ExpertAPoint1.rm.    Simultaneously, an HTML page also opens within a child window that    cascades with the video playback window. This HTML file is declared    as AdditionalInfo.htm.

At a first position on the timeline for the video playback, for example,64.5 seconds on the timeline, the video is paused. The first position onthe timeline coincides with the position where a second panelist,designated as expert B had wished to interrupt the expert A to present afirst response for the key point of expert A. At the first position onthe timeline, a new HTML page automatically opens replacingAdditionalInfo.htm. FIG. 5B illustrates an example HTML implementationof this new HTML page, declared as ExpertAPoint1FollowUp.htm. At thefirst position on the timeline where the video is paused, the viewer isprovided with a choice of two embedded links in the implementation ofExpertAPoint1FollowUp.htm. For example, the first link reads “Watch thedisagreement at this point and the ensuing follow-up”, while the secondlink reads “Continue listening to Expert A without interruption”. Thefirst link opens ExpertAPoint1aResponses.smil and the second link opensExpertAPoint1a.smil, respectively. FIGS. 5C and 5D illustrate exampleSMIL implementations of ExpertAPoint1aResponses.smil andExpertAPoint1a.smil respectively. The second choice ExpertAPoint1a.smilplays ExpertAPoint1Continued.rm, which continues playback of the keypoint of expert A resuming from the first position on the timeline wherethe video was paused.

However, if the viewer selects the first choice, that isExpertAPoint1aResponses.smil, the playback of a new video begins thatpresents the first response of expert B in response to a specificopinion, expressed by expert A, immediately prior to first position onthe timeline. This response video is named as ExpertAPoint1R1.rm. Whenthe playback of the first response begins, another HTML file declared asExpertAPoint1Resume.htm opens. FIG. 5E illustrates an example HTMLimplementation of ExpertAPoint1Resume.htm. Assuming that the viewer haselected to watch the playback of the first response video, while notusing the embedded link in ExpertAPoint1Resume.htm, a series of othervideo segments representing the response-counter-response succession areplayed after the completion of ExpertAPoint1R1.rm.

For instance, the videos that are played in the order of the point,response, and counter-response sequence comprise i) ExpertAPoint1aC1.rm,representing the counter-response of expert A for the first response ofexpert B, namely ExpertAPoint1R1.rm; ii) ExpertAPoint1aR2.rm, which isexpressed by expert B and represents a reply to ExpertAPoint1aC1.rm; andiii) ExpertAPoint1aC2.rm, which is recorded by expert A and represents areply to ExpertAPoint1aR2.rm. This example assumes that follow-up to thediscussion concludes at ExpertAPoint1aC2.rm for the purposes ofillustration. Also, for purposes of illustration, the example comprisesone co-panelist, although the point, response, and counter-responsesuccessions may be extended to include multiple co-panelists.

At the conclusion of ExpertAPoint1aC2.rm, the playback of the videopresenting key point of expert A is resumed from the first position onthe timeline where the video was paused. In an embodiment, instead ofresuming ExpertAPoint1.rm from the first position on the timeline andplaying the video to conclusion, a video sub-segment is created thatcontains ExpertAPoint1.rm from the position on the timeline of theinterruption until the end or until a subsequent interruption in thetimeline, for example, due to a second response of another participatingexpert. The video sub-segment is named ExpertAPoint1Continued.rm. Thisembodiment is useful to circumvent any implementation errors or faultsassociated with the feature of resuming a video at an arbitrary point.The HTML implementation ExpertAPoint1Resume.htm contains an embeddedlink to ExpertAPoint1a.smil and may read “Continue listening to expertA, finish point 1 without any more of the discussion”.

For purposes of illustration, the detailed description refers to asingle viewer; however the scope of the method and system disclosedherein is not limited to the single viewer but may be extended toinclude an almost unlimited number of viewers and multiple levels ofviewing.

It will be readily apparent that the various methods and algorithmsdescribed herein may be implemented in a computer readable mediumappropriately programmed for general purpose computers and computingdevices. Typically a processor, for e.g., one or more microprocessorswill receive instructions from a memory or like device, and executethose instructions, thereby performing one or more processes defined bythose instructions. Further, programs that implement such methods andalgorithms may be stored and transmitted using a variety of media, fore.g., computer readable media in a number of manners. In an embodiment,hard-wired circuitry or custom hardware may be used in place of, or incombination with, software instructions for implementation of theprocesses of various embodiments. Thus, embodiments are not limited toany specific combination of hardware and software. A “processor” meansany one or more microprocessors, central processing unit (CPU) devices,computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors or likedevices. The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any medium thatparticipates in providing data, for example instructions that may beread by a computer, a processor or a like device. Such a medium may takemany forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatilemedia, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example,optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory volatile mediainclude dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutesthe main memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wireand fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupledto the processor. Common forms of computer-readable media include, forexample, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, anyother magnetic medium, a compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disc (DVD), any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape,any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a random access memory(RAM), a programmable read only memory (PROM), an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable readonly memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, any other memory chip orcartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read. In general, the computer-readableprograms may be implemented in any programming language. Some examplesof languages that can be used include C, C++, C#, or JAVA. The softwareprograms may be stored on or in one or more mediums as an object code. Acomputer program product comprising computer executable instructionsembodied in a computer-readable medium comprises computer parsable codesfor the implementation of the processes of various embodiments.

Where databases are described such as the database 203, it will beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art that (i) alternativedatabase structures to those described may be readily employed, and (ii)other memory structures besides databases may be readily employed. Anyillustrations or descriptions of any sample databases presented hereinare illustrative arrangements for stored representations of information.Any number of other arrangements may be employed besides those suggestedby, e.g., tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, anyillustrated entries of the databases represent exemplary informationonly; one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the numberand content of the entries can be different from those described herein.Further, despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formatsincluding relational databases, object-based models and/or distributeddatabases could be used to store and manipulate the data types describedherein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a database can be usedto implement various processes, such as the described herein. Inaddition, the databases may, in a known manner, be stored locally orremotely from a device that accesses data in such a database.

The present invention can be configured to work in a network environmentincluding a computer that is in communication, via a communicationsnetwork, with one or more devices. The computer may communicate with thedevices directly or indirectly, via a wired or wireless medium such asthe Internet, Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN) orEthernet, Token Ring, or via any appropriate communications means orcombination of communications means. Each of the devices may comprisecomputers, such as those based on the Intel® processors, AMD®processors, UltraSPARC® processors, Sun® processors, IBM® processors,etc. that are adapted to communicate with the computer. Any number andtype of machines may be in communication with the computer.

The foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose ofexplanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the presentinvention disclosed herein. While the invention has been described withreference to various embodiments, it is understood that the words, whichhave been used herein, are words of description and illustration, ratherthan words of limitation. Further, although the invention has beendescribed herein with reference to particular means, materials andembodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to theparticulars disclosed herein; rather, the invention extends to allfunctionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, such as are withinthe scope of the appended claims. Those skilled in the art, having thebenefit of the teachings of this specification, may effect numerousmodifications thereto and changes may be made without departing from thescope and spirit of the invention in its aspects.

1. A computer implemented method for conducting an individualized,virtually moderated, and virtual real time debate, comprising the stepsof: defining debating topics and debating rules for said debate;selecting a group of panelists for said debate based on said debatingtopics; providing an electronic debating platform for receiving one ormore key points, responses, and counter-responses contributed by each ofsaid panelists in non-real time, wherein said key points, saidresponses, and said counter-responses are governed by said debatingrules; stringing together said one or more key points, said responses,said counter-responses, and one or more information components relevantto each of said one or more key points in sequence, wherein saidinformation components are used for examining factual accuracies,logical consistencies, and clarity of elucidation of said one or morekey points, said responses, and said counter-responses; and presentingsaid debate to a viewer on a multimedia presentation layer, wherein saidpresentation of said debate is customized by enabling said viewer toselectively navigate through said presentation using said sequenced keypoints, responses, counter-responses, and information components;whereby said customized presentation of said debate enables conductingsaid individualized, virtually moderated, and virtual real time debate.2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein said one or morekey points, responses, and counter-responses are received in one ofdigitally encoded audiovisual formats and text descriptions.
 3. Thecomputer implemented method of claim 1, wherein said multimediapresentation layer is implemented using one of a scripting language anda markup language used for describing multimedia presentations andplatforms.
 4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein saidmultimedia presentation layer defines one or more presentationstructures comprising timing, layout, visual transitions, and mediaembedding for said presentation of said debate using said one or morekey points, said responses, said counter-responses, and said one or moreinformation components.
 5. The computer implemented method of claim 1,wherein said one or more information components comprise digital sourcedocuments, hyperlinks, charts, graphs, graphics, animations, and visualcomponents.
 6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein thedebating rules define a permitted number of said key points, saidresponses, and said counter-responses for each of said panelists, apermitted duration for each of said key points, said responses, and saidcounter-responses, a total time each of said panelists is allotted forcontributing said key points, and a total time allotted for contributingsaid responses and said counter-responses.
 7. The computer implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein said electronic debating platform providesinformation on said debating topics used by said group of panelists inpreparation for contributing said one or more key points.
 8. A computerimplemented system for conducting an individualized, virtuallymoderated, and virtual real time debate, comprising: a database forstoring and cataloging debating topics, debating rules, and informationon panelists; an electronic debating platform for defining debatingtopics and debating rules for said debate; said electronic debatingplatform for receiving one or more key points, responses, andcounter-responses contributed by each of said panelists in non-realtime, wherein said one or more key points, said responses, and saidcounter-responses are governed by said debating rules; a productionplatform for stringing together said one or more key points, saidresponses, said counter-responses, and one or more informationcomponents relevant to each of said one or more key points in sequence,wherein said information components are used for examining factualaccuracies, logical consistencies, and clarity of elucidation of saidone or more key points, said responses, and said counter-responses; anda multimedia presentation layer for presenting said debate to a viewer,wherein said presentation of said debate is customized by enabling saidviewer to selectively navigate through said presentation using saidsequenced key points, responses, counter-responses, and informationcomponents.
 9. The computer implemented system of claim 8, wherein saidmultimedia presentation layer is implemented using one of a scriptinglanguage and a markup language used for describing multimediapresentations and platforms.
 10. The computer implemented system ofclaim 8, wherein said multimedia presentation layer defines one or morepresentation structures comprising timing, layout, visual transitions,and media embedding for said presentation of said debate using said oneor more key points, said responses, said counter-responses, and said oneor more information components.
 11. A computer program productcomprising computer executable instructions embodied in acomputer-readable medium, wherein said computer program productcomprises: a first computer parsable program code for defining debatingtopics and debating rules for a debate; a second computer parsableprogram code for selecting a group of panelists for said debate based onsaid debating topics; a third computer parsable program code forproviding an electronic debating platform for receiving one or more keypoints, responses, and counter-responses contributed by each of saidpanelists in non real time; a fourth computer parsable program code forstringing together said one or more key points, said responses, saidcounter-responses, and one or more information components relevant toeach of said one or more key points in sequence; and a fifth computerparsable program code for presenting said debate to a viewer on amultimedia presentation layer.